NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
This Android app provides a native interface to the Lunar Mapping and Modeling Portal’s (LMMP) lunar data archive and analysis tools. It complements the iOS app previously released, incorporating a very similar feature set. Both apps contain a subset of the functionality available in the desktop/Web version. Compared to the iOS version of the LMMP, the Android version provides the additional tools necessary to perform elevation analysis and perimeter/area measurements.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
NASA scientists are uniquely positioned to research and understand the processes affecting the Earth’s climate. To study these important processes, scientists must address the Big Data challenges posed by working with massive amounts of observational and climate model output data. The Advanced Data Analytics Platform (ADAPT) is a cyber infrastructure resource specifically designed to reduce the friction between scientists and data. The system includes a high-performance storage cloud surrounded by large-scale compute resources. A very high-performing network enables fast access to the data stored within ADAPT. Furthermore, the system allows users to bring their applications to the data and define the environment in which those applications run. The science results can then be stored for future analysis or shared through static and dynamic data services within ADAPT without having to move the data or make additional copies. The agility, flexibility, and extensibility of the system make it ideal for NASA scientists to produce science results quickly by analyzing large data sets.

This technology can be used in applications with complex user interfaces, such as control rooms, emergency and combat operations, and telemedicine.The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Smart Firing Room Project aims to create a firing room using cutting-edge technologies of today that are expected to be the state-of-the-art for the 2020s. One aspect of this project is providing a seamless Interactive Collaborative Environment (ICE) across a diverse array of user-facing devices — numerous screens of varying sizes, personal mobile devices, and natural user interface (NUI) sensors for multi-touch, gesture, and voice inputs. Applications accessible through the ICE are expected to provide Distributed User Interfaces (DUIs) that support collaborative features such as sharing applications with remote users, multi-user interaction for collaborative editing, and modular User Interfaces (UIs) to support customized workspaces spread across multiple devices. Using current technologies, developing an application with a DUI supporting such a wide variety of platforms is extremely costly due to the tight coupling between UIs, host platforms, and the application logic.

This approach is nearly optimal for each observational tier.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
The Design Reference Mission (DRM) tool was developed to support the Exo-Starshade (Exo-S) Science and Technology Definition Team for modeling both the Dedicated (30-m starshade, 1.1-m telescope) and Rendezvous (34-m starshade, 2.4-m telescope) missions. The DRM describes the sequence of observations to be performed and estimates the number of planets that will be detected and characterized. It is executed with a MATLAB-based tool developed for the Exo-S Study.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
In traditional missions at NASA, ground systems were normally custom-built for each project. Additionally, there would be separate ground systems for each part of the spacecraft as well as a totally separate ground system for mission operations. Each of these generally interfaced through non-standard protocols. These ground systems were very expensive to develop, required expensive custom hardware, and required a large investment of time in order to verify the plethora of interfaces between the different ground systems. Non-standard interfaces between various components required extensive engineering and testing efforts.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) provides communication and other services for planetary exploration for both NASA and international users. The DSN operates antennas at three complexes in California, Spain, and Australia, with the longitudinal distribution of the complexes enabling full sky coverage and generally providing some overlap in spacecraft visibility. Beginning in 2018, the DSN will be transitioning to a remote operations paradigm where local dayshift operators at each complex will be preparing and staffing the links (or contacts) for all antennas in the DSN. In addition, the number of simultaneous links an operator will be required to support will increase from two to three. Without tools to manage the increased link complexity, there is a risk that operators will be overloaded.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
Simulation study is an integral part of the validation of navigation algorithms for spacecraft. While it is possible to come up with an estimate of a navigation algorithm’s performance with a low-fidelity system model, the mathematical analysis is intractable for higher-fidelity models that include fuel slosh, flexible booms, sensor saturation, etc. Thus simulation study is a vital step in validating navigation algorithms before an actual satellite is launched.

White Papers Sponsored By:

Question of the Week

This week's Question: In recent years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested into space ventures. SpaceX, an advanced spacecraft manufacturer founded by Elon Musk, has completed more than 30 successful launches since 2006, delivered...